Comparisons/Free alternatives
Free Hotjar alternatives that are actually usable
Start with Contentsquare Free if you want the current Hotjar successor. Choose Microsoft Clarity for free-forever heatmaps and replay without a traffic limit, or PostHog when product analytics and replay need to sit together. None of these tools replaces Nebula's page diagnosis.
Pricing and free-plan details verified September 17, 2026
The current decision
What are you actually replacing?
You want heatmaps, session replay, or behavior analytics without committing to a paid suite.
Hotjar is now part of Contentsquare. The practical question is whether Contentsquare Free already covers your need, or whether a different tool fits better.
Free means different things
A permanent free tier, a limited free plan, and a temporary trial are different buying propositions. This page keeps those states separate.
Decision matrix
Which option fits the constraint?
| Product | Free status | What is free | Core fit | Important constraint | Best fit |
|---|
| Contentsquare Free | Free tier with limits | Up to 200k sessions per month, with heatmaps, session replay, surveys, funnels, and 10+ integrations listed by Contentsquare. | Heatmaps, Session replay, Surveys, Funnels, Experience analytics | The free plan has a 200k-session monthly boundary. Feature availability can change under Contentsquare terms. | Someone who searched for Hotjar and wants the current successor with the familiar behavior-analytics workflow. |
|---|
| Microsoft Clarity | Free forever | Free forever with unlimited heatmaps, websites, and team members. Clarity also lists recordings, behavior insights, and segmentation. | Heatmaps, Session recordings, Click and scroll maps, Behavior insights, Google Analytics integration | Microsoft documents 30-day recording retention. It is behavior evidence, not a substitute for surveys, research recruitment, or page diagnosis. | A budget-constrained team that needs ongoing heatmaps and recordings without a traffic-based bill. |
|---|
| PostHog | Free tier with limits | The published free tier includes 1 million product analytics events per month and 5,000 session replay recordings per month. | Product analytics, Session replay, Event analysis, Feature flags, Data warehouse options | Usage is metered by product and allowance. It has more setup and product-analytics depth than a simple heatmap replacement needs. | Product teams that need replay connected to product events rather than a standalone visual behavior dashboard. |
|---|
This is a fit guide, not a ranking. The right choice depends on the evidence you need and the constraint you cannot ignore.
Evidence and tradeoffs
What each option can and cannot replace
What is free
Up to 200k sessions per month, with heatmaps, session replay, surveys, funnels, and 10+ integrations listed by Contentsquare.
Capabilities
Heatmaps, Session replay, Surveys, Funnels, Experience analytics
Important limits
- • The free plan has a 200k-session monthly boundary.
- • Feature availability can change under Contentsquare terms.
Fit and boundary
Someone who searched for Hotjar and wants the current successor with the familiar behavior-analytics workflow. Closest direct replacement in this set. It is still an analytics view of visitor behavior, not a diagnosis of why a landing page fails its intended job.
What is free
Free forever with unlimited heatmaps, websites, and team members. Clarity also lists recordings, behavior insights, and segmentation.
Capabilities
Heatmaps, Session recordings, Click and scroll maps, Behavior insights, Google Analytics integration
Important limits
- • Microsoft documents 30-day recording retention.
- • It is behavior evidence, not a substitute for surveys, research recruitment, or page diagnosis.
Fit and boundary
A budget-constrained team that needs ongoing heatmaps and recordings without a traffic-based bill. Strongest fit when the required workflow is watching what visitors do. It does not tell you which page condition should be fixed first.
What is free
The published free tier includes 1 million product analytics events per month and 5,000 session replay recordings per month.
Capabilities
Product analytics, Session replay, Event analysis, Feature flags, Data warehouse options
Important limits
- • Usage is metered by product and allowance.
- • It has more setup and product-analytics depth than a simple heatmap replacement needs.
Fit and boundary
Product teams that need replay connected to product events rather than a standalone visual behavior dashboard. Useful when product instrumentation is already part of the workflow. It is not a visual conversion audit of a public landing page.
Source checked September 17, 2026
- PostHog product and usage pricing: 1 million product analytics events per month and 5,000 session replay recordings per month on the free tier.
Startup guidance
What changes when budget and sample are small?
- • If traffic is still low, a free behavior tool will give you little evidence until real visitors arrive. Do not treat an empty replay dashboard as proof that the page is healthy.
- • For a small marketing site, start with the least operationally heavy option that answers the question you have. Clarity is simpler for behavior evidence; PostHog is a better fit when product events already matter.
- • Contentsquare Free is not automatically overkill: its 200k-session allowance may remove the need to migrate from the Hotjar workflow you already understand.
When not to switch
The free option is not always the right option
- • Stay with Contentsquare if its free allowance and integrated surveys, funnels, and replay cover the job and migration cost would exceed the benefit.
- • Do not switch to a behavior tool when the real question is why the landing page is failing before you spend more on traffic. These products observe visitors; they do not replace a page diagnosis.
Where Nebula fits
Evidence about behavior is not diagnosis
Behavior tools show evidence about what visitors did. Nebula audits the public landing page itself against observable conversion conditions, so the two can be complementary rather than interchangeable.